Anthropos

I found two photos in my dad’s laptop case, one was his mother sitting in the little house her husband and son had build, enjoying the birds’ song. The other one was this, his father, sitting in another corner of the same house, soaking the sun with a cup of greek coffee in his hands. It moved me deeply that my 65-year-old dad, of all the photos he had taken in his life of traveling the whole wold as a sailor, he chose these two. A little house 1 hour away from home, and the two people once upon a time he viewed as the most important, most perfect persons in the world.

I always herd people saying how my dad looked like his own dad the more he grew older. I didn’t remember my grandfather, but I saw it in pictures -though, as a kid, I thought my dad was a little more handsome.

I still had a dad when I painted this. It’s on a handmade cotton paper sketchbook, and I was experimenting with watercolors. I was looking at my grandfather in the picture, but I felt I was painting both of them. I have never been good with likeness especially in faces, so I usually avoid to add details -realism is rarely my goal after all. But this serene figure, surrounded by flowers, fresh air, and the scent of coffee, looks like him… Which one?

I named this print “Anthropos”, the greek word for “human”. The word though comes from the words “ano” and “throsko” (άνω + θρώσκω), which mean “look up”.

As I “look up”, I like to imagine him calm and peaceful, sitting in a spot in the sun that doesn’t burn him anymore, maybe with a cat in his lap, or even my sweet dog that went to find him 6 months after he was gone (or maybe it’s too selfish to ask that).

Take as much time as you need, and meet me at the next build

Love,

Evi